


On the Other Side of the Dark

by Basmathgirl



Series: Whispers Over The Dark Side [2]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Family, Grief/Mourning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-10
Updated: 2014-01-10
Packaged: 2018-01-08 04:10:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1128166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Basmathgirl/pseuds/Basmathgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>These are ficlet sequels to my story <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/658527">Over the Dark Side</a>. Donna and David's son Tiro, on occasion, thinks about his parents and finds ways to connect to them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Shadowy Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** Tiro is all my own; the other characters aren’t, sadly.  
>  **A/N:** posted because [wolvfbfn](http://archiveofourown.org/users/wolvfbfn) asked me to.

Tiro woke with a start! It had been such a pleasant dream too. He scrabbled about on his bed searching for his precious diary, finding it about to fall to the floor behind his pillow, and began to write down his thoughts.

_  
Dear Mother,_

_I dreamt of you again tonight. It was such a sweet dream; I cannot begin to tell you how good it has made me feel._

_Father was there too with us. We were laughing at a crazy dragon that wanted to learn to dance – I think his name was Froodge or something similar. I know he was only a young dragon, so you tenderly kissed his nose and told him that you would make sure he learned to dance and take part in his ‘growing ceremony’._

_Then Father helped you climb onto the dragon’s back and massage his wings. I was more fascinated with how Froodge’s wings worked but you told me I should put on my father’s jacket and wrap up warm. You always worry that I am too cold in my dreams. Why is that Mother?_

_I’m sorry that I didn’t think to help you down again; Father was annoyed with me when I didn’t, but I was too busy wondering about the dragon’s tail and if it would knock us over._

_You looked so pretty today, Mother, with your hair tied up with a jewelled rope, and a deep purple tunic thrown over your clothes. I like you in purple. And your perfume was exquisite; just like the perfume you wore in Venice. Nanny never had any perfumes like that in her bedroom. Why didn’t she keep anything like that of yours?_

_She did keep lots of photographs of you, especially in the lounge. She said she liked to see you smiling at us. My favourites were you with Gramps, and the one with you and my father._

_You cried in my dream when the dragon flew away home, almost as much as I cried when I saw you that day for real. Father cried too that day after he left me, but he thinks I don’t know about that; so it will be our little secret between you and me. Did you know he keeps a lock of your hair in his breast pocket? Nanny told me once though I’ve never asked him. I don’t think I should._

_You’re probably wondering why I think it was such a good dream when you cried in it; well… I got to hug you this time. Normally in my dreams I’m not allowed to touch you, but this time I was. I felt your arms go around me and I cuddled into your soft body. You smelt wonderful! (Far better than Amy does) I wish I could dream that everytime. Do you think I will now? And do you think my father will come next time?_

_I’m allowed to keep your urn in here with me now. It sits propped up on my desk along with your photograph – it’s the one of the three of you laughing in Nanny’s back garden. Gramps said you had been telling him about one of your adventures when Nanny took it. The rest of those photos are kept in a special album I made; the TARDIS helped me with the tricky bits, by showing me diagrams. She always says such nice things about you, so she must have loved you too._

_Do you want to know the absolutely best part of my dream? When we pulled apart you smiled at me! It was the loveliest smile I have ever seen. I felt so loved. The TARDIS has started to show me holograms of you, Father and my father when I can’t sleep; and I love to watch you smiling at each other. You were all so happy together. I wish Father was as happy now. He is sometimes, just for the briefest moment. I think it is time for him to find someone new, don’t you?_

_Now I know you will be in my dreams I don’t worry about going to sleep; in fact I look forward to it. Do you think Nanny and Gramps could join you there one night? I miss them. Funnily enough, Rory tried to ask me about them yesterday and Father interrupted him, forcing Rory to talk about something else. I like Rory; I think he will be a good father one day. I don’t want to tell him about you though; why do you think that is? I know he would be kind, but I just don’t want to._

_Father says the people on Earth will celebrate Mother’s Day soon. I’m glad we don’t live on Earth anymore; but I will think of you. I think of you both. I… I want to ask Father if I can see you again, but this time without you seeing me; I know that would not be allowed. Unless… unless I can find a disguise. Perhaps I can be the Santa robot that kidnapped you? That would be really funny!_

_I think I will ask Father about that after breakfast, if I can get him alone. He might let me, seeing as it’s my birthday soon._

_I love you Mother; and please tell my father I love him too, and will write to him on Father’s Day!_

_As always, your ever loving son,_

_David_

_-x-  
_

Tiro reached across and placed a kiss on the urn sitting on his desk before standing up and making his way to the kitchen. His day had started quite well, and now he wanted to see what the rest of the day would bring.


	2. Returning to the Dream

“Doctor, can we head back to earth for the day?” Amy asked him suddenly over breakfast.

“Why are you asking me that, Pond?” he enquired.

Amy stole a glance at Rory hesitantly. “It's just that... It's Father’s Day, Doctor, and I'd like to go and visit my dad,” she finally admitted.

The Doctor tried to pretend he hadn't noticed Tiro start at the news, and quietly replied, “I see no reason why we can't.”

There was a squeal followed by Amy tightly hugging him. “Thank you, Doctor. Come on, Rory,” she added, grabbing at her husband's arm and dragging him off with her to nab some stuff to take with them.

Tiro remained sitting silently staring at his bowl of cereal. 

“Are you alright, Tiro?” the Doctor gently asked.

There was the faintest of sniffs. “I'm alright. I'm always alright,” came the sullen reply; searing the Doctor's hearts with its familiarity. “I might sit this one out and do some writing for a while,” Tiro added in a soft whisper.

“That's fine,” the Doctor told him. “You run along then.”

Tiro shifted back his chair, barely glancing in the Doctor's direction before heading quickly towards to his room. He'd forgotten! He couldn't believe that he had forgotten, after all those unsubtle hints Amy had been aiming at him for the past few days.

 

As soon as he entered his room he crossed over to his desk and picked up the precious urn sitting on it. “Sorry Dad, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to forget you but life gets chaotic round here, and Amy keeps babbling on at me about everything under the sun. I just tuned her out. I'm sorry.” 

He felt the TARDIS give him a gentle mental nudge, so he turned to view his holopad.. Just as he had expected, she played him footage of his fathers laughing together; but this time the footage was different. This time she showed him his father's reaction when he found out his mother was pregnant. Oh it was priceless! The joy, the panic, and the near collapsing on the kitchen seat. Tiro laughed with delight when he watched his antics. Fortunately the TARDIS stopped the footage before Donna made her joke about the Doctor coping with the birth, which Tiro knew about from her diaries, but he was grateful nevertheless for the TARDIS’s thoughtfulness. He already had too much to grieve about today, and he wanted to keep some happy thoughts for a change.

He pulled out his office chair, the one personally chosen by his mother, sat down, and began to write to his father as he had promised he would do several weeks beforehand.

_  
Dear Dad,_

_I hope it is okay to call you Dad, as I can’t keep using ‘my father’ can I?_

_Oh how you made me laugh when I saw the footage of you finding out Mother was pregnant! No wonder she called you so many names that mean idiot. I know you would have loved our time together, if you had lived long enough; and Father tries to make up for the fact by being as much like you as possible, but it isn't the same. I understand that. Nanny said you were constantly over the moon about becoming a father. She said you could hardly talk about anything else._

_This time last year I would have said at this point that I wish I could have met you. But that isn't true anymore. I have met you, in a roundabout way. Okay, I spied on you, but that is almost the same, I'm sure it is._

_I hadn't realised how handsome you were. Nanny kept telling me you were and how much I took after you, but I dismissed it as her being biased. She did love me an awful lot. I thought it right up until I saw you with Mother... I don't know how to say this, and Mother has probably told you already how I cried, but... I didn't understand. I didn't understand and I feel ashamed I didn't. Father tried to tell me so please don't blame him. He gets upset still, even after all this time. Being three parents in one hasn't been easy for him. I don't make it easy when Amy starts her distracting nonsense and I sneak away. I keep secrets. I don't tell him things; important things that he needs to know._

_It is really hard to think of him looking like you now that I'm used to this new face. I look in the mirror and I see you gazing back at me. Whenever I need you there, you are in any reflective surface; and I do need you so please don't think that I never do. I just don't admit it very often._

_I love you, Dad. I'm working on a way to see you again that is safe. I know Father won't let me try out anything that could cause a temporal paradox. ~~We aren't all blonde bimbos!~~ That was cruel, as I never knew the woman and you liked her enough for a while. Sorry, I know I'm not supposed to mention her; Nanny and Gramps were most insistent about that when we were in Father’s company._

_The TARDIS has just flashed me up a recipe on my monitor for Gallifreyan Mion Cake. Perhaps I shall make that for Father while they are all visiting Amy's dad? Yes, I like that idea. It is from a folder with Mother's name on it. There's a photo file about a beach! Oh Dad! I never knew that existed; hang on, I'll try accessing it… Damn! It won't let me look. Why on earth would it stop me looking at pictures of you on a beach? I'll try out my new sonic on it later, once I’ve made that cake._

_Judging by Father's impatience, they won't be earthbound for very long, so I had better head for the kitchen. I need to remind him how much he means to me too. You don't mind, do you, Dad? You are both my biological father after all, and I cannot (and will not) decide between the two of you._

_As I said before, I love you, Dad. Please kiss Mother for me, and I hope to see you very soon._

_Your ever loving son,_

_David  
-x-_

__  
He closed up his notebook and headed straight for the kitchen, where the TARDIS had already laid out the ingredients he would need.

 

The Doctor entered the TARDIS to find the most delicious smell intoxicating his taste sensors. He headed straight for the source and found to his absolute delight a Gallifreyan Mion Cake cooling down on the worktop with a small note propped up against it. Taking a precautionary gulp, the Doctor hesitantly opened the note to find a message written in Gallifreyan:

**To my Father, the greatest Father in all the known universes,  
May you experience peace, love and joy  
From your son  
Tiro**

Then for some unknown reason the Doctor's vision went all blurry. He made a mental note to dig out those old glasses of his before reaching for a knife and cutting into his cake with glee.


	3. A Dream Come True

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donna and David’s son Tiro conspires to meet his parents; just one more time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warning:** contains references to chapter 7 of Over the Dark Side; i.e. [And The Dark Went Away](http://archiveofourown.org/works/658527/chapters/1241532).

“Father, can I learn to do mime please? I would love to attend a class by the great Marcel Marceau,” Tiro brightly asked the Doctor one day.

“Why do I feel this has an ulterior motive, Tiro?” the Doctor pondered, and chuckled at him. “Of course you can.”

Tiro’s sudden fall in countenance immediately lightened again. “Can I, Father? Really?” He beamed happily and checked that no-one else was nearby before launching himself at the Doctor, hugging him thoroughly. Seconds later he pulled back. “Sorry Father, I know I’m too old to do that but sometimes…”

“It’s okay, I understand,” the Doctor informed him. “You don’t have to worry about them seeing you.”

Tiro started slightly before replying, “I don’t feel comfortable about showing them my feelings. I like them, don’t get me wrong, and I know I should be warmer towards River, but they aren’t my family.”

“Look at me,” the Doctor gently ordered, placing his hands upon the boy’s shoulders. “We’re all the family we have left. Friends are important people; they are who we choose to be with. And take that thought about me not wanting to be with you out of your head before you say it.” He gave Tiro a warm smile. “Sometimes you are so like your mother it’s uncanny; always finding a way to doubt yourself when everyone else sees nothing but you shining. What else did you want to ask me?”

Tiro twinkled mischievously at him. “I’d like to arrange a meeting in disguise, if you’d let me. I don’t even have to talk to them, I just want to walk beside them for a few minutes; breathe the same air as them,” he enthused until he caught the Doctor’s reticent mood. “Forgive me, Father,” he whispered, hanging his head in shame. “It was a daft idea. I am such an outer space dunce.”

Then just as quickly as his mood change, Tiro tore himself away and ran from the Doctor; ran as fast as his legs would carry him. Once he was back in his room he threw himself on his bed and pulled his pillow into his arms, gently rocking himself. Tears sprung to his eyes, unwanted and shaming him as he tried to be the Time Lord he knew he could never truly be.

There was a hesitant knock on his door some minutes later. “Can I come in?” River confidently asked.

Not trusting himself to speak, Tiro threw her a sullen look and then nodded.

“It can’t be easy, being the only child on board,” she began, stepping into his room.

“I am not a child!” he told her indignantly, and surreptitiously wiped his eyes on the pillow before releasing it onto the bed. “I’m sorry, that was rude of me,” he quickly apologised, not looking directly at her. “I know you are trying to help.”

“May I?” She indicated at the space next to him, and sat herself down on the bed. “We don’t talk very often, do we? I grew up as an orphan too, so I think I can guess what sort of dreams and wishes you hold.” When he glared disbelievingly at her she added, “And I was listening outside the kitchen earlier. I shouldn’t have done but it was an accident.” She went to place a consoling hand on his arm but he flinched away. River took a calming breath. “Tiro, can I ask you about your mother? I don’t know anything about her and it seems stupid that I don’t after all this time. The Doctor won’t tell me anything, you see.”

Tiro shifted to sit up straighter, pulling his cloak of carefully honed indifference around him to protect himself from what he was about to reveal. He knew this woman would be important in his Father’s life, in her timeline she possibly already was, and he had to start to accept that more. “Her name was Donna. Donna Noble,” he told her quietly with some reluctance. “Her husband was called David, and he was killed not long before I was born. Her and Dad are over there, together, in the jar.” He pointed to the urn sitting on his desk. “She died as a side effect of saving the universe.”

Not knowing what else to say, River commented, “You must be very proud.” He merely nodded back at her. “How come you’re here? Why aren’t you with the rest of your family?”

“I am. I was born here in the TARDIS. I belong here. And there’s no-one else left,” he replied matter-of-factly.

Feeling she was on a roll now, she asked, “Why do you call the Doctor ‘Father’?”

“Why not?” he replied with a shrug. “He’s brought me up. He’s been there for me ever since I was conceived. He is my family.”

River felt a twinge of sympathy. “Don’t you miss playing with friends, laughing at stupid jokes, listening to the latest music, giggling over girls…or boys, whatever takes your fancy?” she asked with concern.

He shrugged once more. “What you’ve never had you don’t miss. Nanny tried taking me to playgroups and things, but the other children always told me I was weird. I know that upset her, but I was glad just to be with her at the time. And Uncle Jack used to come and play with me…” He suddenly gasped and looked shocked as though he had revealed an enormously big secret.

“Who’s Uncle Jack?” she asked as tenderly as she could. “Did he hurt you?”

“Oh no!” he denied as he quickly defended the memory. “He was a friend of Father’s at one time, but Father changed. Uncle Jack was wonderful; he used to let me help him hunt Weevils.”

“As in ‘hunt and kill’?” River was shocked at the image.

Tiro threw her a disdainful glance. “No! Why would you want to kill a Weevil? They are silly and misguided creatures that needed re-homing at times. He would let me drive the SUV sometimes too,” he said proudly.

“Drive? But you are too young,” she protested.

“Technically I’m not too young on Earth,” he replied hesitantly. “I er… I don’t age at the same rate other people do.” He knew what the next question was going to be, and sought to dodge it. “Father is calling us, so we’d better get to the console room,” he told her, knowing that he both impressed and scared her at times. Giving her no chance to reply, he leapt off the bed and raced out.

River stared at his retreating back, knowing why the other children had thought him odd, and wondering if he would ever properly accept her. With a sigh, she got up off the bed and followed him.

~o~

Tiro beamed with happiness. He was studying with _the_ Marcel Marceau! Not only that but he’d been told he was brilliant at this miming lark. The Doctor had signed him up for half a dozen lessons, and he’d taken to it like a duck to water. In fact, he felt confident he could carry out the next part of his plan now. Dodging passed an inquisitive Amy, he made for the wardrobe room to organise his disguise.

As he wove between the rails of clothing he really wished he was taller. He knew he’d probably grow to be very tall, just like his father; but right now he was the shortest person in the TARDIS, and it was a complete bind! For a start it made him dismiss the vast majority of what was on offer, leaving a kilt and lairy trousers. Hmm, the kilt could work though, if he could find the right socks.

“Channelling your Celtic ancestors are you, Tiro?” the Doctor asked him, wearing a teasing smile. He hovered in the clothes aisle, unsure whether the boy would welcome the interruption.

Fortunately Tiro smiled back. “What do you think, Father?” He gave a twirl, making the pleats flail out. “I think I might have the legs for this.”

“Well, yes; your father definitely did,” the Doctor agreed. “Come to think of it, your mother had pretty good legs too. Pity she covered them up so often. She could have given Amy a run for her money.”

Tiro laughed with delight. It wasn’t often that the Doctor spoke about his parents so openly these days. “I’m not wearing anything as short as Amy does!” Tiro scoffed playfully. He lifted one pleat to reveal his knee. “I don’t want all the ladies keeling over in a swoon.”

The Doctor laughed too at his antics. “You are going to knock the ladies out when you are old enough. It will be like bees round a honey pot,” he stated.

“Is that what it was like for you?” Tiro asked, catching him unawares.

“No…,” the Doctor denied with a gleam in his eye. “Only sometimes.” He walked forward and cradled Tiro’s head lovingly. “You have so much to enjoy in your future, my son. All that brilliance, and in such an attractive package.” 

“Isn’t that a bit wrong to give yourself compliments like that? Even if it’s your old self you’re complimenting,” Tiro pondered with a smirk.

“The compliment is solely for you,” the Doctor told him. “None of it is mine.”

Tiro snorted a laugh. “Do be serious! I look just like my father who looked the spit of you. Ergo you are complimenting yourself.”

The Doctor shook his head in amusement. The boy had proved the point he was about to make. “Ah, but you forget, my delightful young David Noble, one very important fact: you are half your mother.”

Tiro quirked an eyebrow in question. “And your point is?”

“My point is: how can you be anything but utterly brilliant,” the Doctor stated; and was delighted to see Tiro blush. “Now… what is the next step in this plan of yours?”

~o~

Tiro stepped out into a sunny day. He had his precisely painted mime mask in place, his costume carefully donned, and he felt ready to face anything. They had landed a couple of streets away; far enough to be safe. Walking quickly, he reached the corner of Somerset Street; a place he had been many times with his grandmother as a small boy when she took him to the play area. His hearts beat wildly in his chest. Would they notice him? Should they?

He knew from his mother’s diary that she had walked to the newsagent's with his father, so he dashed to stand on the park footpath on the way to the premises; erecting a little handmade sign propped up against a hat. The idea was to look as though he was collecting for charity. If asked, he was ready to say it was for Comic Relief or Children In Need, whichever would be more believable.

Within minutes there were voices approaching the nearby shop. The first four potential customers were men buying the morning paper, then a boy on his bike turned up and openly sneered at Tiro; but Tiro held fast and performed his rehearsed act. Needless to say neither the boy nor his bike left anything in his hat. He could have done without that stray dog that had tried to leave something else entirely in his hat, and on it!

Just as his hopes were beginning to die, there was the sound of a man and a woman. The man’s voice was terribly familiar; it took Tiro right back to his early childhood, when Father had spoken in a similar way. The woman’s voice was familiar too, but only because he had replayed it many times in his head since he had met her in Venice.

Tiro fought had to retain his glee! He was gazing upon his parents and they didn’t have a clue who he was. Not that they were doing a great deal of looking about in order to notice anyone else; they only had eyes for each other.

“You look beautiful,” he heard his father whisper quite clearly to his mother.

Tiro could not help the smile that escaped to reside on his face. His parents looked so happy together; and he had never thought he would have been able to view them as such without causing a paradox of some sort. In fact he almost clapped with glee.

It was short-lived because he then heard his mother ask, “Why are you really here, David? We have something really special going on, I know that, but I don’t understand why. One minute you are a brilliant figment of my imagination and the next you turn up on my doorstep, all gorgeous and sexy, and… Are you going to disappear just as easily? Like all the other times?” She then tearfully gazed up at him, in a way that threatened to break Tiro’s heart.

Tiro felt the breath halt within his lungs. ‘Do something, Dad!’ he silently implored him.

He needn’t have feared, because David swept her into his close embrace. “Oh Donna! I have no intention of ever leaving you again,” he told her tenderly, and placed small kisses on her forehead. “The path nexus has dissolved and the temporal displacement had been terminated; there’s no way I could go if I wanted to.”

‘What? What did you have to say that for, Dad? You could have killed her!’ Tiro internally protested.

“That what has done what with the what?” Donna had asked in return as she glared at David. “Are you taking the piss?”

Tiro wanted to groan in frustration. ‘Dad, fix it,’ he begged.

Except David had snapped back at her, “Donna! You know very well what I mean! It was you that explained it to me in the first place!” It was only then that he seemed to think better of it. “I mean… no, I’m not trying to take the piss… Donna! Don’t go!”

The problem was that Donna continued walking away from David. Tiro quickly looked down at himself to check whether he was fading away or not. Well, you never knew if things actually happened like they did in Back To The Future, he reasoned. Fortunately his body was remaining where he had last seen it.

Donna was ranting at David when he looked back up at them; although their increasing distance apart was making that more difficult. “See you after work?” David called out.

“Whatever!” Donna yelled back at him.

Tiro couldn’t help shaking his head in disappointment. Had his dad really been this thick? Just as he was thinking this, David turned from watching Donna’s hasty retreat and headed for the paper shop. Tiro almost held his breath as his father walked passed, and he gained his first ever whiff of what his real father smelled like. Of course he put on a little show in the meantime; he had his cover to complete after all.

When David emerged from the shop holding a newspaper, Tiro did a pirouette and smiled encouragingly at him. His father smiled back at him and said, “You saw all that, didn’t you? She’ll come round, she always does; or she did… Take my advice, son, always tell the truth because lies will trip you up.”

What shook Tiro was that his father then gently touched his arm, whilst giving him a slight sniff too. So Tiro acted out the fact he was sorry, and asked if he loved her.

David laughed. “More than she shall ever know. I’ve come a long way to be with her, but that’s only between you and me, so tell no one else, okay?”

Tiro nodded his agreement, and mimed his good luck wishes. David then went to put some money in his hat, but Tiro hastily pushed away his hand, waving that he shouldn’t.

“Why won’t you let me?” David queried, clearly puzzled as he looked at the boy; and then he obviously had a thought. “You’ve travelled here from afar too! I can’t quite place your scent…”

That was when Tiro panicked. He couldn’t give his father a single clue and it looked like he was about to. He frantically waved goodbye and then fled; running as fast as his legs would carry him. Once he was out of sight but close to the TARDIS, he crumpled against a wall and cried. He had thought it would have been so easy; just watch his parents stroll along in the morning sunshine. He hadn’t expected he would be able to interact with them at all.

He almost jumped out of his skin when a hand touched him on the shoulder. “That bad, eh?” the Doctor asked sympathetically. “Let’s go in and have some tea. I like tea.”

Tiro desperately wiped his eyes using the backs of his hands. “Yes, tea would be good. Thank you, Father.” He stood up and made for the comforting hum of the waiting TARDIS.

“Did I ever tell you about the planet sea monkeys really come from?” the Doctor asked him conversationally.

Tiro forced himself to smile back more than he actually wanted to. He knew this distraction tactic inside out. “What’s the ratio of marine to terraform life?” he asked in return.

“Ah! That’s the interesting part,” the Doctor continued, opening the door to let them in.

Tiro knew that they would discuss his experience later when he was less emotional; but for now their main task was to gain that all important cup of tea. Life has its priorities after all.


End file.
